SWAT teams
use grenades that produce light and noise to distract suspects.
When a situation is too risky or dangerous for regular police officers, the SWAT team is called in to take over. Special Weapons and Tactics units are trained to deal with high risk situations such as hostage takings. The need for specialized SWAT teams emerged out of dangerous encounters in the sixties such as the Watts Riots. As a result, the first SWAT teams emerged in L.A. during that decade.
Surprise
When SWAT enters a dangerous situation, sometimes the unit will use surprise to their advantage. The unit will breach quickly and use any advantage possible to put suspects back on their heels, where they are more easily subdued. A good example of this is how SWAT typically breaches a room. The unit breaches quickly and precedes entry to the room with deployment of a flash-bang, a grenade that makes an ear-piercing noise and produces a flash of blinding light, to startle and temporarily disorient the suspects.
Less-Lethal Tactics
SWAT teams, like all police officers, aim to preserve life whenever possible. While SWAT teams certainly encounter situations where lethal force is required, efforts to preserve life are deployed whenever it does not put the lives of civilians or officers at risk. SWAT teams train in the use of chemical weapons and other less-lethal means of subduing suspects for use in situations where the use of such does not increase the risks posed to any innocent people.
Protection
SWAT teams also sometimes train in protective tactics. The Seattle SWAT team, for instance, liaises with other protective agencies such as the secret service to provide protective details when diplomats and government officials are in town. Sometimes, protection involves keeping the public safe rather than protecting specific individuals. SWAT teams assist in crowd control during riot situations to protect people from damaging property and each other.
Hostage Negotiators
Some departments have separate hostage negotiation departments that work with SWAT teams during hostage situations. In other jurisdictions, such as in Milwaukee, the SWAT team is responsible for negotiations during hostage situations. The SWAT teams in these jurisdictions will have members that have received specialized training in negotiating to run these types of operations while the other members of the team provide tactical support. The emphasis in all the tactics employed in hostage negotiations is preserving life. SWAT members train to always find the best ways to get the hostages out alive, whether that is through negotiations or physical operations.
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